Chinese New Year Celebration: Year of the Monkey at Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, February 7.

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will hold "Chinese New Year Celebration: Year of the Monkey" on Sunday, February 7.

In ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. Come celebrate the Chinese year 4714, the year of the Monkey, with Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization. Make art, enjoy live music, and join the Steel Dragon Lion Dance Team for a parade through the Museum for the finale!

The celebration runs from 1:00 to 4:00 pm and is free with museum admission ($14 for adults, $13 for kids aged 2 through 18, and free for infants under 2). The museum is located at 10 Children's Way on the Northside (map).

More information about Squirrel Hill Lunar New Year 2016 events in February.

Via Uncover Squirrel Hill.

In December the first Squirrel Hill Lunar New Year 2016 celebration was announced, and more information about the two weeks of festivities was recently made available online.

The events begin on Saturday, February 6 with the Kick-Off Celebration at the Jewish Community Center (map). From the Uncover Squirrel Hill website:

Bring the entire family to experience this celebration of Chinese and Asian cultures! Enjoy performances by Steel Dragon Lion Dancers, Taiko Drummers, HaiHua Chinese Youth Orchestra, Korean Children’s Choir, Dong Yum Doe Korean Martial Arts, and many more. Watch and learn with demonstrations of origami, dumpling making, and calligraphy. You’ll also find plenty of crafts for the kids, including making paper lanterns. This event is free; food will be available for purchase.

The event runs from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. A Lunar New Year Dining Passport that offers 10% off participating Chinese and Asian restaurants in the area will also be available on the 6th.

Other events throughout the celebration include a Children's Celebration at the at the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill on February 10, a Teen Time Celebration at the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill on February 16th, and a Lunar New Year parade down Murray Ave. on February 21. More information is on the Uncover Squirrel Hill site.

Organization of Chinese Americans [OCA] Youth Lion & Yoyo Team at Carnegie Library in Oakland, January 24.

via the OCA Pittsburgh Facebook page.

The Carnegie Library in Oakland will host the OCA Youth Lion & Yoyo Team on January 24 as part of its World Kaleidoscope series.

2016 movie Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語Ⅰ 鉄血篇) at Hollywood Theater, from February 27.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont recently announced that it will show the 2016 Japanese animated movie Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語Ⅰ 鉄血篇) from February 27.

"The Vanished Capital and the Vanished Poet: Landscape and Poetry in the Noh Tadanori" at Pitt, January 20.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Elizabeth Oyler of the University of Illinois-Urbana at Champaign and her talk "The Vanished Capital and the Vanished Poet: Landscape and Poetry in the Noh Tadanori" on January 20. A synopsis, from the Asian Studies Center homepage:

Taira Tadanori is among the most famous heroes from the Genpei War (1180-1185), the divisive civil conflict that brought Japan’s first warrior government to power. Renowned both as a poet and a man of arms, Tadanori is commemorated in the epic war tale recounting the conflict, The Tale of the Heike (Heike monogatari), as well as several noh plays, including the eponymous Tadanori. This presentation addresses the way that play meditates Tadanori’s dual identity as a warrior-poet and explores the poetic and battlefield landscapes that define him, demonstrating how language and place reveal hidden, traumatic absences.

The talk begins at 2:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map), and is free and open to the public.

"Informal Education and Cultural Transmission through Uyghur Language Websites" at Pitt, January 20.

The University of Pittsburgh's Institute for International Studies in Education in the School of Education will host Dr. Rebecca Clothey of Drexel University and her lecture "Informal Education and Cultural Transmission through Uyghur Language Websites" on Wednesday, January 20.

Pan Izakaya to open this spring.

The new Shadyside izakaya we wrote about on Sunday will be called Pan Izakaya, according to today's Post-Gazette profile.

The 50-seat restaurant will be the latest venture from Mike Chen, longtime Pittsburgh restaurateur behind the innovative Everyday Noodles in Squirrel Hill, China Palace in Wexford and Monroeville as well as Sushi Too in Shadyside.

“Pittsburgh is ready for this,” he said. With more Pittsburghers destination-dining around the U.S. and the world, they’re bringing home expectations for the kinds of restaurants they’re looking for in their own community.

. . .

Construction on the space will start within the next few weeks. Decor will be “very Japanese,” which will include wood accents and will highlight the bar — which makes sense, considering an izakaya is an after-work drinking place, he said. And the drinks he’ll highlight include many variations of sake.

Stocking a sake bar is a challenging task in terms of navigating the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). Since sake is not a popular beverage in Pittsburgh at the moment, he’s having to source from suppliers in Philadelphia and through special orders. Pan will also include amenities like sake storage.

1937 Chinese movie Street Angel (马路天使) at leaf & plate, January 15.

The Shadyside tea house and restaurant leaf & plate will show the 1937 Chinese movie Street Angel (马路天使) on Friday, January 15.

"Mandarin Chinese Speed Language Partnering" at Pitt, January 22.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center is hosting "Mandarin Chinese Speed Language Partnering" on Friday, January 22.

Want to improve your Mandarin Chinese or help new language learners? Join us at our inaugural speed networking event where native and mandarin speakers of all levels will converse in a series of brief exchanges. Meet, socialize, and hopefully find a great language partner! Light refreshments will be served.

The event starts at 12:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

Pitt's new wushu club.

Today's Pitt News profiles Gina Bao,a first-year student at the University of Pittsburgh who started a wushu club there in December.

Before she had ever attended class, had midnight fries at market or swiped her panther card, Gina Bao had already written the constitution for her wushu club at Pitt.

Bao, a first-year student studying neuroscience, started the club in December 2015 to teach students about wushu, a modern version of kung fu that involves combat martial arts moves with jumps and aerials. The club held its second practice Jan. 9, when eight members from all experience levels showed up to learn wushu techniques in the William Pitt Union Dance Studio. Beginning with simple lessons in bowing and stretching and progressing to complex combinations of running and kicking, Bao hopes to train the members to compete in a national collegiate wushu tournament in just four months.